By: Phil | 11-29-2017 | News
Photo credit: Lakov Pilmonov | Dreamstime.com

Automation Could Replace 800 Million Humans by 2030

Got skills? May not in a decade or two, depending on your industry. Either that or the skills you have will have become irrelevant as disruption reshapes the face of the global workforce. According to a recent report from McKinsey & Company, up to 375 million members of the global workforce will be out of a job due to automation by 2030. That's some 15% of every working adult who may need to switch job categories and acquire new skills in order to maintain "relevant" in a world that seems to be progressing at exponential rates. Another 400 to 800 million may be replaced entirely by automation.

Historically speaking, technology has generally raised productivity and provided new jobs. Here in the United States, the number of agriculture based jobs experienced a sharp decrease between 1850 and 1970. Within the same duration, however, overall employment grew. With each new era in industrialization from steam to electricity to electronics to broadband and beyond, job displacement has been an issue. Rudolph Valentino and other giants of the silver screen lost work when the silent era gave way to "the talkies." That's not to mention the theater organists. With the rise of automation making entire job fields obsolete, the question will be whether people will be able to successfully compete in a brave, new world with strange, required skillsets.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">New report: What the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/futureofwork?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#futureofwork</a> will mean for jobs, skills, and wages <a href="https://t.co/xWzbqk48hO">https://t.co/xWzbqk48hO</a> Please retweet! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/newworldofwork?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#newworldofwork</a> <a href="https://t.co/UoysqnMf19">pic.twitter.com/UoysqnMf19</a></p>&mdash; McKinsey Global Inst (@McKinsey_MGI) <a href="https://twitter.com/McKinsey_MGI/status/935674139007963136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 29, 2017</a></blockquote>

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The occupational shift is an inevitability but some analysts remain optimistic that new job creation will manage to offset the enormous disruption of automation. This paradigm shift won't just hit the first world, either. People thought Buckminster Fuller had gone daft when he predicted in the 70's that India and China would experience an economic renaissance as we move to an electronic society, but that is part of what we're seeing. Unpredictable environments will be shielded for a time. Gardeners and plumbers who have to exercise intuition. Jobs requiring human interaction like teaching will become more in-demand however. Physically demanding jobs like construction, fast food work or factory work as well as jobs that require a lot of data processing such as bankers and accountant will likely be hit hard by the changes.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Top 10 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BigData?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BigData</a> Facts [Infographic]<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Algorithms?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Algorithms</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Robots?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Robots</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Futureofwork?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Futureofwork</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AR</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HealthTech?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HealthTech</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DigitalMarketing?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DigitalMarketing</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GrowthHacking?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GrowthHacking</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/startups?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#startups</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mpgvip?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Mpgvip</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/defstar5?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#defstar5</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/makeyourownlane?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#makeyourownlane</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SEO?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SEO</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Marketing?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Marketing</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CX?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CX</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ML?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ML</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/infosec?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#infosec</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/finserv?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#finserv</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/smm?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#smm</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/business?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#business</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IoT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IoT</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SaaS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SaaS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AI?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AI</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bloggingtips?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#bloggingtips</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Nuts?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Nuts</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/9and9?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#9and9</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SocialMedia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SocialMedia</a> <a href="https://t.co/7JtqLxKvEM">pic.twitter.com/7JtqLxKvEM</a></p>&mdash; Nitish Sharma🎯 (@Nitish_Sharma23) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nitish_Sharma23/status/934108413839097856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2017</a></blockquote>

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Another category of jobs whose demand should grow in the age of automation is related to high-level logical reasoning and emotional skills. In other words, "soft skills" will become increasingly marketable. Accounting and financial reporting are out, management and human relations are in. Some highly lucrative fields like law and medicine could soon be automated. Automation is indubitably on the rise, and humanity is making the slow creep towards a semi-conscious technological fascism. There are those who mark a growing isolation and decline in community and family involvement that plays into the growing mental health crisis. One wonders will the therapists (sure to be in high demand for those who can afford them) be androids as well?

Source: https://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/future-of-organizations-and-work/what-the-future-of-work-will-mean-for-jobs-skills-and-wages

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